The Dawning of Spring

In November the snow starts to fly
Piling up ankle high;
By December it’s up to your knees
Still a bride’s a bride to be;
January higher still
To the parlor windowsill;
February finds the drift
And a storm that seems never to lift;
March comes in like a lion, what else
Still the snow never melts;
April showers may come, so they say
But they don’t, and it’s May;
You’re about to forget the whole thing
All at once, one day it’s spring.

Here in Idaho, this beloved song from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is a rather big exaggeration. We never get this much snow here. In fact, it is currently all off the ground here in the valley. The mountains and ski resorts still have the fluffy white powder, but barring any major storm, they have seen the last of snow.

The in between stage of winter and spring is some of the most difficult in all the world. The earth lays under a blanket of dreariness and gray. The grass is not the vibrant green, flowers are not in bloom, tree boughs lay barren and devoid of blossoms and leaves. When we are surrounded by this for so long, we can despair of spring’s arrival. At times, we can feel that this is the year when spring will not make its appearance.

The same is true in life. We can feel as if everything is only shadow and gloom. Things do not ever look like they will ever get better; we experience one crisis after another: family difficulties, friendship problems, church and health issues…I know you all can relate. This past year, I have had many times of believing that my “winter” in life would stay forever.

While discussing the soon…hopefully…arrival of spring, Mom said she once read that “one can never appreciate spring until one has experienced the winter.” I realize how true that is. I would have to confess that if the lilacs, daffodils, and baby animals were constant occurrences in life, I would not think of them as highly as I do. I would take them for granted. And I cannot believe I am saying this, but if my life was only ups, and never downs, triumphs, but never any trials, I would not be the person who I am today.

Winters aren’t all bad. We can make snowballs, have hot chocolate, and bundle up in warm blankets. Our wintry days and emotions are the same way. We often find God in so many ways that we are more often to forget otherwise. We find out how our true friends are. And in the end, when God does bring our spring, and he ALWAYS does, we look back and realize how much the winter meant to us.

So, I want to encourage you. Whether you live in a state firmly in winter’s grasp and are in the wintry days of emotional turmoil, the time will come when spring will dawn. It will be positively radiant and we shall see spring’s blessings in a whole new light!